Darius Rucker will play free concert if South Carolina football wins six games
By John Buhler
Musician and South Carolina alumnus Darius Rucker pledges to play a free concert if the South Carolina Gamecocks win six games during the 2016 NCAA season.
Country music star and frontman of the quartet Hootie and the Blowfish Darius Rucker is dying to play a free concert for his alma mater at the Horseshoe in Columbia, South Carolina. Rucker is a die-hard supporter of South Carolina Gamecocks football and his only stipulation to play a free show at the Horseshoe is that South Carolina has to win six games and become bowl eligible in 2016.
South Carolina may have been a top 25 program just a few years ago under former head coach Steve Spurrier, but the Gamecocks will have a long way to go to reach bowl eligibility in 2016. The Gamecocks were terrible in 2015, going 3-9 (1-7) in Spurrier’s final year in Columbia. South Carolina only beat the North Carolina Tar Heels, the winless UCF Knights, and the Vanderbilt Commodores in 2015.
While South Carolina did hire former Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp to the same position and an ace recruiter in offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon away from the rival Georgia Bulldogs, is 6-6 even a realistic possibility for what might be the worst team in the SEC?
At Clemson and at Florida are almost certain losses. Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas A&M at home won’t be easy. Neither will road games at Kentucky, at Mississippi State, and at Vanderbilt. Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas A&M are all making bowls. Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt will likely be in that four-to-seven win range.
The only two certain wins on South Carolina’s 2016 slate are at home versus UMass and at home versus Western Carolina. They’ll have to beat Missouri and Eastern Carolina plus two of the eight previously mentioned teams on their 12-game slate. Still, taking two out of three on the road against Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt won’t be easy.
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Rucker might be giving his rebuilding football team a boost of confidence for a free show at the Horseshoe, but it won’t be just the Miami Dolphins that make Rucker cry this fall. That’s too much pressure on Ryan Tannehill and Perry Orth for one-fourth of Hootie and the Blowfish to handle. Just hold his hand and let him cry.